INFORMATION FOR ADULTS ON PHONICS METHODS can be found in the adult non-fiction

sections of many libraries.

372.465 Beck Beck, Isabel. Making Sense of Phonics: The Hows and Whys. Offers phonics-teaching strategies from an experienced educator. Lessons focus on sound relationships, blending, and multi-syllable words.

372.465 DetersDeters, Lisa. Better Phonics and Beyond in 5 Minutes a Day: Phonics Fun for Kids and Parents on the Go. For parents who want to teach phonics to their children. Offers games, puzzles, and activities to get children interested in reading. Part of the 5 Minutes a Day series.

372.465 HiskesHiskes, Dolores G. Phonics Pathways: Clear Steps to Easy Reading and Perfect Spelling. A more advanced book that teaches basic phonic rules using illustrations, word lists, and practice readings.

Search by subject to find more about phonics and learning to read: (type the phrases into the Subject Browse box): Reading-Phonetic MethodEnglish Language-Phonetics-Juvenile Literature English Language-Vowels-Juvenile Literature English Language-Consonants-Juvenile Literature

DATABASES

Ed2Go has free online classes in the Teaching & Education section about different methods for teaching reading to children. ERIC: the Educational Resource Information Clearinghouse, a database for education professionals, has articles evaluating the effectiveness of phonics-based and other approaches to teach reading.

Some titles may be available in e-formats. Please check our catalog or ask a librarian for assistance.

Revised by the staff of the Hawaii State Library System. September 2013

Learning to Read: Phonics Help for Children

Use this guide to find books that will help children who are beginning to learn to read. Phonics is one important method for teaching children to read. Easy Readers are books designed for beginning readers, using a limited vocabulary and large print to help children gain confidence as they begin to read on their own.

Easy Readers are often called Leveled Readers. Leveling standards vary, as each publisher sets its own criteria, but these descriptions can be used as a general guideline to help you find the right level books for your child.Level 1: Contains short, simple sentences, limited vocabulary, word repetition, large type and strong visual cues. For the beginning reader.Level 2: Contains more words, longer sentences, and stories with longer plots. For children beginning to read on their own.Level 3: Contains simple chapters and more complicated plots. For the more independent reader who will soon be able to move on to transitional chapter books in the children’s fiction collection.

ALPHABET AND SOUND STORIES

E (Easy Reader) BallardBallard, Peg. This and That: The Sound of “Th.” A story that uses repetition to teach the “th” consonant blend. Part of the Wonder Books Phonics series.

E Cole Cole, Joanna. Bug in a Rug: Reading Fun for Just-Beginners. A collection of short stories, poems, and pictures to introduce young children to phonics and fun activities for new readers.

E MacDonald MacDonald, Suse. Edward Lear’s A Was Once an Apple Pie. Colorful illustrations update this whimsical poem by Edward Lear. Rhyming words teach children how to sound out initial letters. (Alphabet/Counting)

Hawaii State Public Library System

E (Easy Reader) Hays Hays Anna Jane. Here Comes Silent E! Silent E goes around the neighborhood, changing words such as kit to kite and pin to pine. A great way to introduce to children the concept of the silent e. A Step Into Reading - Step 2 book.

E (Easy Reader) Heling Heling, Kathryn. Mouse Makes Words. Children will enjoy following this mouse as he teaches sound-substitution by changing the first letter of a word to create new words. An Early Step into Reading book. See also Mouse Makes Magic.

E (Easy Reader) Jensen Jensen, Patsy. Loose-Tooth Luke. Luke is the only one of his friends who still has all his baby teeth, so he goes searching for ways to make one of his teeth loose. Offers vocabulary and phonics guidelines. A Real Kids Readers – Level 3 book.

E (Easy Reader) KarlinKarlin, Nurit. The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat. Wilma the witch’s cat and rat argue about who gets to sit on the mat.

E (Easy Reader) Leonard Leonard, Marcia. My Pal Al. Story of a young African-American girl who describes her relationship with her stuffed rabbit Al. The book uses short sentences and teaches vowel sounds to children. Part of the Real Kids Reader Series.

J 428.1 RovetchRovetch, Lisa. Ook the Book. Readers of Dr. Seuss will love these twelve quirky rhymes with titles like “Ow the Cow” and “Ake the Snake” that introduce pronunciation to young children.

E Silverstein Silverstein, Shel. A Giraffe and a Half. “If you had a giraffe and he stretched another half… you would get a giraffe and a half.” Teaches children how to sound out similar-sounding words with different spellings.

E Thomas Thomas, Jan. Rhyming Dust Bunnies. As three dust bunnies, Ed, Ned and Ted, demonstrate how much they love to rhyme, a fourth, Bob, is trying to warn them of approaching danger. The same characters are featured in Here Comes the Big, Mean, Dust Bunny and What Will the Fat Cat Sit On? Helps beginning readers to sound out words.

E (Easy Reader) MindenMinden, Cecelia. Alex and the Box Shop: the Sound of X. Spend a day with Alex and learn about the letter X. Part of the Sounds of Phonics series.

E (Easy Reader) Moncure Moncure, Jane Belk. My “A” Sound Box. A little boy fills his sound box with words that start with the letter a. The Sound Box books are designed to teach children initial sounds of words.

J DVD Sesame Street. Elmo’s Alphabet Challenge. Join Sesame Street friends Elmo, Abby and Telly as they accidentally get trapped inside a video game world of A. B. C-more, a mischievous elf obsessed with the alphabet.

E WellsWells, Rosemary. Max’s A B C. Max and Ruby adventure through the alphabet as Max suffers an attack of ants in his pants. Children learn the sound of initial letters while reading a fun story. (Alphabet/Counting)

E H Yee Yee, Tammy. Island-Style Alphabet. Children learn to sound out letters from this alphabet book that highlights Hawaiian culture. (Hawaiian Easy)

RHYMING STORIES FOR CHILDREN LEARNING PRONUNCIATION

E (Easy Reader) CoxCox, Phil Roxbee. Shark in the Park. Pup warns all his friends when he thinks he sees a shark in the park. The Usborne Phonics Readers series highlights internal letter combinations.

E (Easy Reader) CuylerCuyler, Margery. Tick Tock Clock: a Phonics Reader. As the hours tick by, two rambunctious twins create mayhem. Illustrations extend the meaning of the simple story built around the “-ock” sound. An I Can Read: My First Shared Reading book.

J 372.414 FixmanFixman, Jennifer. Phonics Time. Uses rap, reggae, and swing music to get children interested in reading. (Includes CD)